Accountancy and small business specialist Sage has bought UK firm Snowdrop Systems Limited.

Sage is paying £17m in cash for the company which made sales of £7.5m in the year ended December 2006. Snowdrop has headquarters in Witney, Oxfordshire as well as offices in Australia, Barcelona, and Glasgow.

Snowdrop makes systems which automate jobs for human resources departments. The company was founded in 1991.

Sage promised to continue to support existing customers and offer Snowdrop as standalone products as well as integrating them into Sage products.

Customers include Admiral Insurance, the Eden Project, Nandos Chicken Restaurants, Pret a Manger and Wates Group.

Sage will release interim financial results Wednesday 9 May. ®